Early life
Paul Eugène Magloire ne Paul Vincent Magloire, 30th president of Haiti and 33rd head of state (ephemeral military governments were excluded from the count), was born on July 19, 1907, in Quartier-Morin, commune of Cap-Haitien, in the North Departement. Paul was the son of a high-ranking General Eugene Francois Magloire, and Marie-Philomene Mathieu. He attended Lycee Philippe Guerrier. On April 18, 1936, he wed Yolette Leconte, a direct descendant of Jean-Jacques Dessalines; the marriage lasted till her death in 1981.Military career
On September 1, 1930, Paul joined the army. In 1935, he found himself in Cap-Haitien as sub-commander of this military district, a position he maintained until 1938 when he was promoted to the rank of captain and to the post of commander of the same district. In 1941, he was transferred to Port-au-Prince as commander of the National Penitentiary (also called Grand Prison) The following year he graduated from the Port-au-Prince Law School. He became Police Chief of Port-au-Prince in 1944. In January 1946, the population rose up against President Elie Lescot who found himself in great difficulty in Port-au-Prince. Lescot would later be accused by parliamentary committees of having used public funds to participate inPresidency
In May 1950, Colonel Franck Lavaud returned to power provisionally with the mission of organizing presidential elections to hand power over to a civilian, and Magloire joined him. In December of the same year, Magloire ran for the presidency. The election was the first in the nation's history where all adult males had the right to vote. Magloire won against a fragile coalition of socialists, communists, and conservatives. During Magloire's rule, Haiti became a tourist spot for American and European tourists. His anti-communist position also gained favorable reception from the US government. In addition, he emphasized public works; revenues from the sale of coffee were used to repair towns, construct roads, public buildings, and a dam. He also oversaw the institution of women's suffrage. Magloire was very fond of a vivid social life, staging numerous parties, social events, and ceremonies. Shortly after he came to power in December 1950, he amended the constitution to set up, by referendum, a republican presidential regime and broke with parliamentarism. His consistently anti-Communist policy was appreciated and supported by the United States. During his reign the streets of Cap-Haitien were asphalted, and the monuments of Vertières as well as the gatehouses of Barrière-Bouteille were built at the southern entrance to the capital. The result of such measures was that Haiti became one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Caribbean. From 1954, Magloire's popularity fell. In that yearExile and death
Having resigned, Magloire fled the country amid strikes and demonstrations. Political instability continued in Haiti for most of the next eight months, with no one individual (military or civilian) able to dominate. The instability finished only when François Duvalier, whom most outsiders mistook for an unworldly intellectual, achieved power. On October 15, 1957, about a month after Duvalier became president, Magloire was officially condemned to exile and stripped of his Haitian citizenship. Thereafter the new regime confiscated all the properties owned by Magloire and his brothers, Arsène and Fernand; Magloire himself settled in New York City. In 1986, when Duvalier's son and successor Jean-Claude lost office, Magloire left New York and returned to Haiti. Two years later he became an unofficial army advisor, although his hopes of regaining the presidency were never fulfilled. On July 19, 1997, he obtained the rare distinction of being made "Marshal of Haiti". He died, aged 93, on July 12, 2001. The Haitian government accorded him a state funeral.References
Further reading
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Magloire, Paul Presidents of Haiti 1907 births 2001 deaths 20th-century Haitian politicians People from Cap-Haïtien Haitian anti-communists Haitian exiles Exiled politicians